Dune Rest
Dune Rest, the desert city of the massive Lankago Desert, is a metropolis founded by the Sunwell Mercenary Company, later evolving into the Sunwell Military State. Beginning as a small trading camp in the middle of the the Lankago Desert near the only major body of water in the region, it quickly grew in size and prominence thanks to the need for such a settlement in an otherwise largely uninhabited area of Prynh. Now it's a gateway to the Farsight continent for those coming from northern Prynh for various reasons, the key of which is trade. Coming through Dune Rest is a particularly popular traveling route for those coming from Crimshan and the areas to the north known as the Savage Plains. Basic Information Many of the design choices that were implemented in the building of Dune Rest, over time, were based on three concepts: Military strategy, surviving the desert and encompassing the 5 personalities of The Heroes Five - the famous heroes who played a large part in the slaying of Godbane, and founders of the Sunwell Mercenary Company and in turn the city of Dune Rest. Places of Interest Military Design The military side of this legacy and evolution comes through in the form of the large walls that surround the city, and a modular concept layout to the buildings within. This modular aspect to the layout allows the city to be seperated easily into territories and thus easily defended based on assignments, territorial concentrations, and so forth. Additionally, many of the buildings that reach more than a few stories in height, generally have terraces and balconies that are designed to be positions of strength for ranged attacks and in general, scouting. Permitting the building of these larger structures only in certain areas of the city, as to make sightlines clear and organized for the town's watch. It doesn't seem obvious from a civilian's standpoint, but all of these aspects are very clear for anyone with an eye or mind for military strategy. Desert Comfort The second aspect, naturally, is designing a city to not only help its denizens survive the harsh desert conditions around them, but actually allow a certain amount of comfort. Certainly the heat and the sun in general is an obvious and prominent feature of the region. The building materials it provides are typically sandstone and muchof the walls around the city are indeed made from reinforced sandstone bricks. When the city was being constructed, it was eventually discovered that the nearby mountain range was the final resting place of the famouse dragon known as Granell, whose bones were made of a bright white ivory. Mining these bones gave the architects of Dune Rest a new resource to continue the growth of the city. Large portions of the city's buildings are now made of this white stone-like material. This works well for the heat, deflecting the sunlight rather than absorbing it, the same as the sandstone that makes up practically any structure not made of the dragon ivory. Many of the prominent buildings in Dune Rest have domed roofs. While there is no true strategic value in terms of neither military nor the elements, there is no denying that it helps in terms of things like keeping sand from gathering like you might see snow gather atop a peaked roof during winter in other locations around Prynh. The Rings of Kel'dola The front gates of Dune Rest are unique in that they are circular and more akin to a tunnel than a standard gate you might see in other cities such as Stormwall. The metal portcullis, the large metal doors that swing out when opened, an an additional layer of sandstone slabs that slide in and out of slots in the walls, all inside a circular entry carved into the thick sandstone walls. The importance of this is that it is designed to match the Arches of Kel'dola, or coloquially known as simply The Rings. Starting several miles from the walls of the city, deeper into the desert, massive rings of sandstone rings protrude from the sands of the Lankago. These rings continue to come from the sand every 30 yards or so, leading from the desert to the front gate of the city. These rings are the part of the city that symbolize the Eladrin hero, Syndell Kel'dola, the Stormcaller. Being that this Eladrin was a humble hero, always welcome himself, he thought it was important that the people traversing the desert felt welcomed into Dune Rest. The rings themselves are meant to be a guide to the very gates of Dune Rest, out from the unrelenting nature of the desert. Why rings? Rather than your typical wand, orb or other implement of your modern mage, the Stormcaller was known to focus his magic through 3 metal rings that he was able to make float. His powers, perhaps most famously a powerful ice beam, would charge up in each of these rings, the rings would align and then the chosen spell would fire through the three aligned rings. These rings, of great power and iconic in the history of Prynh, were the perfect symbol to represent Kel'dola in the building of Dune Rest. Gilliwalter Square The reason the Sunwell and the Heroes Five established a city in the middle of the desert was because there was a chance to control the trade in an area that people avoided because of the hostile environment, despite it being a great area to be able to travel through in terms of trade and quickly moving from the Farsight continent toward the central areas of Prynh. The shops, tents, stalls and salesmen take up an area that is larger than most cities, by itself. Named after Gilliwalter Dredge, the Halfling Bard of the Heroes Five. The massive square Districts Government & Military Category:Cities